1. Field of the Invention
A portable dispenser for loading, storing, cooling, and cutting cube stick foodstuffs such as butter and the like.
2. Prior Art
Wherever butter is used, it is commonly served in individual pats. The homeowner has in the past followed the procedure of manually cutting a pat of the size desired with the use of a knife and butter dish. Restaurants must either cut the butter in pats themselves or obtain the butter from a supplier in that form.
A butter dispensing device should not only cut and dispense butter in pats of the size desired but should also maintain the butter at a predetermined temperature. In addition, the operating mechanism of the device should be simple to operate and should permit ready disassembly for cleaning and servicing.
The basic principle utilized in cutting and dispensing devices of this nature is the movement of cutting means, such as a wire or the like, transversely to a stick of butter. The mechanisms employed to accomplish this have been extremely complicated devices which would not be readily adaptable to widespread use. The butter cutting and dispensing mechanism should be extremely simple and effective and should be capable of quick assembly. In addition, it is preferable that the cutting and dispensing mechanism comprise as few parts as possible in order to permit ready reassembly of the device by personnel who are not mechanically trained.
Moreover, none of the prior art includes any sanitary means of placing the spread into the device. In the present state of the art, it is a sticky and messy process for the operator to take an unwrapped bar of spread in his hands and place it in the spread housing or receptacle. A need exists for such a device which permits the butter or foodstuff to be placed in the device and dispensed without ever being touched by human hands.
The prior art also includes coolers permanently interconnected with the dispensing devices. There are also portable coolers on the market into which the dispensing device can be placed for cooling. But there are no such coolers wherein a structural member of the top of the dispensing device forms the top of the cooler as will be described in the description of this invention.